Things seem to finally be getting better for Lucas (Mads Mikkelsen). The divorced kindergarten teacher is close to a resolution of the custody battle over his teenage son and a budding romance with a co-worker might mean an end to a lonely chapter in his life.

But then one of his students, Klara (Annika Wedderkopp), who happens to be the daughter of Lucas' best friend, tells a petulant, momentary lie, and before you can say "moral panic," Lucas' life is turned upside-down in "The Hunt." Suspected of abuse, he becomes a pariah in his small, close-knit town, despite a lack of evidence that he ever did anything wrong.

It's been a banner year for Scandinavian imports, following the Oscar-nominated "Kon-Tiki" and the riveting "A Hijacking." The seventh feature from Danish director Thomas Vinterberg ("The Celebration," "Dear Wendy") boasts impressive performances from Mikkelsen (lately of TV's "Hannibal") and young Wedderkopp. Vinterberg deserves credit for sensitively coaxing a compelling performance from his child actor in the midst of some disturbing subject matter.

There are shades of "The Crucible," "The Children's Hour" and the McMartin preschool trial, and the tragic familiarity of this sort of presumption of guilt works against the script by Tobias Lindholm (writer-director of "A Hijacking" and co-creator of the TV series "Borgen"). It's more a character study than a procedural, omitting some details relevant to a criminal investigation. And the nearly unanimous animosity of Lucas' friends and neighbors comes about too instantaneously, especially considering the real-world history of these sorts of cases.

Despite all that, "The Hunt" is a fantastic showcase for Mikkelsen, who shows he can play a cannibalistic serial killer on TV and a persecuted kindergarten teacher in the movies, and be just as believable as both.